The Unknown Prince of Tennis
by NenePasciele
Summary: After dominating the US tennis circuit at a young age, Ryoma decides to quit tennis indefinitely even after earning the title as the Prince of Tennis. His family decides to move back to Japan and enroll him in Seigaku, hoping to rekindle Ryoma's love of tennis. And even if Ryoma disagrees Nanjirou hopes that Seigaku hadn't lost the charm that first drew him to the sport in his time
1. Prologue: Prince's Unannounced Arrival

**Chiwassu~~  
****So I'm new in the PoT Circuit and I just wanted to give this a shot  
****I know this isn't an original idea or anything  
****And it's based on two other stories from previous years  
****Hopefully I don't end up copying anything from them  
****Well, let's just start this shall we?**

**Synopsis:  
**Echizen Ryoma had entered and dominated the US Tennis Circuit at a young age but after a few years, some things happened and Ryoma didn't want to continue dealing with the superficial players who only played for the money and fame. This caused the aspiring prodigy to lose interest in the sport that he had once loved as well; resulting in his quitting indefinitely, despite his parents' protests. Thus, Nanjirou and Rinko decided to move back to Japan and enroll their son in the school where Nanjirou had trained in tennis before going pro. Ryoma still doesn't buy into it but his dad still hopes that Seigaku hadn't lost the charm that first drew him to the sport.

**Sounds good?  
****Yeah?  
****Saa let's start!**

* * *

Prologue: The Prince's Unannounced Arrival

A 12 year old emerald haired boy sighed as looked at his new school. He had just transferred in from America just a few days ago but was told that he wasn't to start until today. Though it's been a week since the start of classes, he wasn't worried in the slightest since school would start in September back in America. The boy, Echizen Ryoma, just sighed inwardly to himself again as he started for the doors where, whom he assumed was a teacher stood looking at her wristwatch.

When he made his presence known to her, she brightened up as he came up to her. "Ah you must be Echizen Ryoma-kun! Thank goodness, I was worried that you would have gotten lost on your way here." She smiled with relief. Ryoma just nodded at her and walked in.

"Ah, I must show you around if you don't mind being late to class." Then she realized that he was already late.

"My Oyaji gave me a tour a while ago when we came to visit his old teacher, so you don't have to sensei. I'll just get to my home room." He said to her over his shoulder before he continued to walk.

"I-I see." She stuttered, a bit confused at the boy's overwhelming air of self-confidence. "But still, as the guide for your first day, I will escort you over." She said with authority. Ryoma didn't mind much and remained silent the whole walk over. When they reached the classroom, she knocked on the door and led the way in. As the boy entered, there was a rush of whispering and staring to which he just rolled his eyes. People were the same wherever you went.

"Class eyes to the front." The teacher in charge called out before he gestured towards Ryoma. "This is our new transfer student, you may introduce yourself." He told the boy.

"My name is Echizen Ryoma, it's a pleasure to meet you all." He said a bit dully before bowing towards the class.

"Alright, Echizen-kun, you may take your seat next to Ryuzaki. Please put up your hand." The girl next to the window then raised her hand. "Now, Echizen-kun, we've just started on review so if there is anything that you don't quite follow please let me know." He then continued on with the interrupted lesson.

As he did, Ryuzaki Sakuno took this time to ask Ryoma a quick question. "Ano... R-Ryoma-k-kun..." Ryoma looked at her with no interest whatsoever. "Um... I-I just wanted to t-thank you f-for yesterday." She finally got out. This had confused the boy as he didn't really remember her or seeing her at all. "O-On the train." She elaborated.

He then remembered that yesterday, he spoke out to a couple of seniors who were bragging and swinging a tennis racket around. He ended up telling them off before he stepped off the train. His friends were making fun of that guy while some other people smiling quietly to themselves as he walked off. _"I guess she was there."_ Ryoma speculated and looked at her again.

"Y-you helped stop those boys from hitting me w-with the racket." She added.

"Betsuni, it wasn't really for you. They were just annoying." He responded.

"A-Ah, I see." She then remembered something else. "D-Do you like tennis?" Ryoma inwardly froze when he heard her and from his look, she guessed that he was wondering how she knew about him and tennis.

"You seemed to know a lot about tennis on the train, and then I heard you i-in the station asking for direction to the Kakinokizaka Tennis Garden, s-so I thought..." She trailed off.

"_I should be more careful from now on."_ Ryoma said to himself as he didn't want to lead people on that he played or even liked tennis.

"I was just meeting up with someone there." Ryoma told her. It wasn't a total lie but it was just to get the girl to stop. "And I don't like tennis." He said abruptly cutting the conversation short.

"O-Oh..." Sakuno then pulled away from him and started to listen to the teacher.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

"Oi~ Echizen!" A loud voice called out to him as he was leaving the school. He turned around and saw a funny looking kid with light brown running up to him. Ryoma paused for a moment until he saw the tennis bag hanging over the other's shoulder. He then commenced walking again just as the boy had caught up to him.

"Hey, I said to wait up." Horio puffed as he caught Ryoma's pace. "You're in my class right?" There was a pause as the emerald haired boy didn't respond. "Well I was wondering if you were going to join a club today."

"Betsuni."

"Come on, I'm sure you'd like the tennis club." Horio grabbed the other's arm and started to drag him off.

"Yadda." Ryoma tried to shake him off.

"Why not? If you're scared that you won't be good, I have two years of tennis experience and can teach you everything." Ryoma highly doubted that, but eventually, Horio did succeed in getting the reluctant boy to the tennis courts.

"Hmm? Where is everyone?" Horio looked around to see only a few players on the courts.

"Oh, the regulars have a practice match at another school today so everyone had already gone home." The pair saw another two boys at the entrance to the courts and they were lugging some equipment off.

"I'm Mizuno Katsuo."

"And I'm Kato Kachiro." The boys introduced themselves.

"Horio Satoshi."

"I'm not interested. I'm going home." Ryoma then ripped his wrist from Horio's grip and walked off.

"Ahhh, matte Echizen!" Horio sighed. "I thought I would have an underling in the tennis club since freshmen are everyone else's underlings in the club."

"H-Horio-kun..." Katsuo and Kachiro sweatdropped at the boy, understanding his personality straight away.

"Ryoma-kun..." The three boys suddenly heard a female's voice. They turned towards her and saw that she was standing with another girl with pigtails and a teacher the recognized as the tennis club's coach.

"Sakuno, you know him? Ne ne, who is he?" The girl, Osakada Tomoka, immediately went starry eyed.

"He's Echizen Ryoma but I wonder why he's here, he doesn't like tennis." Sakuno became puzzled.

"Ah, that's because Horio-kun dragged him here." Kachiro told her. They then introduced themselves to one another.

"Haa, is that what he's saying now?" The teacher, Ryuzaki Sumire, said partly to herself. She gave an interested smile as she watched the boy leave.

"Obaa-chan you know Ryoma-kun?" The twin braided girl asked.

"Yes, he's the son of a student of mine that I trained years ago." She said with a fond smile.

"Trained? As in tennis?" Sakuno was surprised.

"Yes, but it seems that that boy really doesn't want to play..." "...a_nymore."_ She added to herself, thinking that Ryoma wouldn't want anyone to bother him about the sport. _"I guess this was what Nanjirou was talking about."_

"You boys don't leave him alone, alright? He came from America so he doesn't know anyone in Japan." Ryuzaki-sensei told the trio.

"Hai!" They straightened up.

"I'll finally get my underling!" Horio cheered.

"Horio-kun." The two boys and even the girls sweatdropped.

"Haha, this is going to be one interesting year." Sumire said and then said goodbye to the trio.

**Yeah kinda boring and slow moving  
****But this is the prologue, whatcha gonna do?  
****I'm rewatching the anime and trying to get idea right now on how Ryoma'll start tennis again  
****Hopefully I'll make his contact and relation to the regulars believable  
****And more importantly, natural  
****I'll try my best, please tell me how I did XD  
****Till then, hope you enjoyed ^^  
****Owari desu~**


	2. Chapter 1: Encounter the Regulars

**Chiwassu~~~  
****Glad you guys seem to be liking this  
****Or at least have an interest in it haha  
****Well, let's just get going to the story shall we?  
****Ah, I forgot to do this in the last chapter**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Prince of Tennis or Tennis no Ouji-sama or whatever you wanna call it**

**And to MangoPudding: Not sure if I'll put pairings since I'm not too great at writing them… but we'll see what happens in the future**

**And thanks again for your wonderful reviews guys ^^ makes my day  
****Saa~ let's go!**

* * *

Chapter 1: Encounter the Regulars

Ryoma sighed as he sat in his desk that morning. School hadn't even started yet and already was the day ruined for him. Earlier, when he had reached the school grounds, a tennis ball had come out of nowhere and had not so lightly bounced off of his the head. As it plopped down, he had caught it in his hand while looking at it with a glare.

"These things just won't leave me alone." He huffed to himself as someone then started to call out towards him.

"OIII, hey kid! Thanks for catchin the ball." A taller boy with spiky black hair smiled down towards him with a lopsided smile. Ryoma just looked at the taller boy and noticed the two on his collar signifying that that the boy was a second year, a junior. The older boy just continued to stare down at him, waiting for the other to offer the ball back but Ryoma just continued to glare at him.

"I don't like that look in your eyes." The black haired junior finally said and loomed closer to spook the freshman a bit. But as Ryoma still refused to respond, the junior pulled back scratching the back of his head in defeat.. "Maa, I'm sorry for hittin you but it was an accident see. I was just goofin around, bouncing the ball on my racket when a mamushi came out of nowhere..." Ryoma just stopped listening to the crazy story. Ignoring his sempai's dramatic actions, he dropped the ball then left.

"Hey, at least leave your name. I'm Momoshiro Takeshi." Momo ran to catch up to the freshman.

"I don't care." Ryoma stated, pausing in the front area of the school to change his shoes.

"Come on, is that how you treat your sempai?" Momo poked the emerald haired boy's head.

"Has anyone ever told you that you're annoying?"

"At least once every two days, but it's from the mamushi."

"_Again with the mamushi?"_ Ryoma thought to himself as he walked down the hall but Momo was still tailing him. "Why won't you leave me alone? I don't even know you." The freshman said coldly.

"Ouch, you've got quite a tongue on you. And of course you know me since I gave you my name." Momo insisted. "And since I gave you mine, in exchange, you should give me yours." He said leaning on the door frame, preventing him from entering the classroom.

"Don't you have any other people to bother?" Ryoma still hadn't changed his expression.

"Not at the moment." Momo joked. "Come on just tell me your name. I wanna be liked by everyone I meet, so I'm persistent."

"You aren't usually off to a good start when hitting people on the head with tennis balls." Ryoma walked away and headed towards the other door but Momo continued to stay between Ryoma and the wall behind him and eventually the second doorway as well.

"Oi Echizen, what are you doing? Class is going to start soon." Horio suddenly poked his head out of the door frame from the first doorway and then noticed Momoshiro. "Ah, Momo-chan-sempai." He yelled in surprise, pointing at the junior.

"Hey, it's the freshman from the tennis club. Horio right?" Momo asked.

"That's right! Wow a regular knows my name!" Horio was starting to get weird images in his head of him getting praised by the seniors and them asking him to become a regular alongside them. However, he snapped out of it when he realized that Ryoma had been glaring daggers at him. "E-Echizen, w-what's wrong?" Horio motioned backwards a bit.

"Ah so Echizen's your name." Momo crossed his arms triumphant. Ryoma looked really displeased at this sudden turn of events. Not only did an annoying junior learn his name, but this annoying junior was a regular in the tennis team _and_ knews his name. "But if you know Horio, then why don't you also join in the club? Or did you already join some other club?" The black haired boy questioned.

"Echizen doesn't like tennis." Horio blurted, causing him to once again be the subject of the emerald haired boy's icy glare.

"If you don't leave now, you'll be late for class _sempai._" Ryoma looked towards Momoshiro with a challenging gaze. Momo didn't know what it was about that look but there was something that he recognized, he just couldn't put his finger on it. He'd seen that gaze somewhere, he used to see it all the time, but now that he tried to remember it, it just wouldn't come to him. And before he could think any further on it, he was brought back by the bell sounding.

"Yabe! I'll see you at the practice later Horio. Don't be late or Buchou will make you run twenty laps." The junior gave a wide smile and waved before running off to his class. Ryoma just ignored the goodbye and walked off, sitting in his desk waiting for class to start. His mood for the day was now officially ruined.

Following after him, Horio ran up to his desk and asked him how he had met Momoshiro. Refusing to answer, he just turned the other way and looked towards the ceiling. "Oi, Echizen..." Horio started to complain before the teacher finally showed up and called order to the class. The boy jumped and scurried off to his own desk, leaving the subject open. Ryoma, just like normal, started to doze off in the middle of the lecture and found his mind wandering towards the subject of why this school was so tennis orientated.

Now that he thought about it, it was the major sport that anyone in this school had ever talked about. And the most talked about people in the school were the regulars who played in the tennis tournaments. They even had their own fan clubs which were actual clubs somehow approved by the student council.

Eventually, the time for lunch had finally arrived and Ryoma was sitting in the cafeteria, trying to eat in peace after he, as politely as he could manage, shooed off some girls. But his quiet, undisturbed lunch didn't last long as Horio came out of nowhere and plopped down in front of the boy. Ryoma gave an annoyed look towards the boy.

"Saa Echizen how did you meet Momo-chan-sempai?" Horio asked as he immediately started to chow down on his lunch.

"He whacked me in the head with a tennis ball." Ryoma bluntly said taking a bite of a sandwich. Horio sweatdropped and figured that that was what made the boy seemingly annoyed the whole morning.

"S-Sasuga Momo-chan-sempai... But he's a power player so I guess it's kinda to be expected." He justified for the absent junior. Ryoma didn't bother to retort as he didn't want the conversation driving towards the sport that shall not be named. But regardless, Horio continued to blabber on about the club and even bragged about having two years of tennis experience under his belt, not that Ryoma could care any less about the other's experience. Soon, Kachiro and Katsuo walked towards them and joined the two for lunch as well.

"Hey Ryoma-kun, Horio-kun." The pair greeted as they sat down.

"Oh, you guys, guess who Echizen met!" Ryoma sighed and tried his best to tune out of the conversation. He didn't want to hear anymore of 'Momo-chan-sempai' or 'the tennis club'.

"Who, who?" The two asked curiously.

Horio then took a big gasp of air and was about to blurt it out when someone yelled out towards them from behind him, scaring the air out of him. "Yo! The whole gang is here, huh? Is this an intervention to persuade this guy into the club or something?" Momo crashed in.

"_Again with the club?" _Ryoma rolled his eyes at the thought. "Don't you have anything better to do than bothering first years?" The emerald haired boy narrowed his eyes towards his sempai. Katsuo and Kachiro looked at their friend with shock.

"Iya, Momo-chan-sempai isn't a bother at all!" Horio rapidly said to Momo in panic.

"R-Ryoma-kun, you can't speak to an upperclassman like that."Kachiro whispered hastily and they all looked up towards Momoshiro with worried expressions.

"Again with that sharp tongue huh? You're interesting." Momo just grinned and joined them. "But there's nothing the matter with wanting to hang out with my kouhai once in a while, ne?"

"If you say so." Ryoma retorted, biting into his sandwich again. Eventually, Katsuo and Kachiro pieced together that Momo was the person that Horio was about to say that Ryoma met. In all honesty, they were surprised that Momoshiro wasn't angry or annoyed with their friend's attitude. If it had been anyone else, they would have done something unspeakable to the boy.

After that day, as the week had gone by, Ryoma noticed that there hadn't been a single day that the tall junior wasn't a part of. He always caught up with him somewhere whether it be in the hall between classes, at lunch or after school where he found out that he lived in the same direction as the junior when Ryoma was going home after his cleaning duties.

At first, Ryoma was beyond annoyed by the older boy's devotion to not leaving him alone whatsoever. As for the other freshmen, he could understand why they were always around him since they were in the same year as him and shared a few of his classes, but Momo was a grade older. Though after a few days, he had somehow gotten used to the junior's presence. And once, when Momo was off for practice one morning, he even came to pick up the emerald haired freshman for school as well.

"Ah Ryoma-san," Nanako called towards the boy who was eating his breakfast. "you're sempai is here to pick you up." This day just so happened to be one of those days when morning practices were halted.

"Hai." Ryoma finished up, cleared his plate and grabbed his bag. He then passed his father who was reading his newspaper at the table.

"Gyahaha, does the seishounen need a babysitter to accompany him to school?" Nanjirou taunted but Ryoma just ignored him. "Are you still not going to join the tennis club, brat?" He asked out of curiosity. It had been a little over a week since his son had started school, but there was still no news from Ryuzaki Sumire, the club coach.

"Ittekimasu!" The boy called out as he headed out the door, ignoring his father completely.

"Hoy Ryoma-sama~ answer me~" He whined.

Ryoma paused at the door. "Ttaku, sometimes I wonder who's the real twelve year old around here." He grumbled loud enough for his dad to hear. "I already told you oyaji, I quit tennis."

"Isn't that just cuz ya can't beat your old man?" Nanjirou taunted.

"Cche... you know the reason already." He then left to meet Momo at the door.

"Haa, he's not cute at all." The man sighed in defeat.

"Ojii-sama, why must you push Ryoma-san so far about tennis? If he doesn't want to play, then why force it?" Nanako sat down next to him with two cups of coffee at hand.

"Cuz if he isn't pushed, he'll never pick up a racket again and I'm sure he misses it more than anything else, desu ne Karupin?" The Himalayan cat brushed against the man's leg as he walked by.

"Mrao mrao~" the cat responded.

"I'm sure you're just trying to salvage your dream, ne anata." Rinko came down the stairs and sat at the table as well.

"Mou Rinko-chan, I'm not so selfish as to put my dream before my son's. That's just the bonus. Gyahahaha. ITTE!" That response deserved the whack on his head. The man then continued on whining about physical abuse.

"_Ojii-san's dream, huh?"_ Nanako was left to wonder what it could be. _"I wonder if Ryoma-san knows of it."_

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

"So slow Echizen!" Momo yelled at him as the boy came out through the door.

"Gomen." Ryoma apologized apathetically and climbed behind Momo's bike. They then took off down the road.

"If we're late I'm blaming you." Momo complained on the way there.

"Why would you take the time to pick me up then?" Ryoma didn't really care for the answer.

"What, if you're on the way, isn't picking you up what a friend does?" The junior was surprised by such a question, especially coming from someone younger than himself.

"But if it's troublesome, then why bother?" The freshman continued on the subject.

"W-Well, because they're your friend, that's why!" Momo couldn't believe he was having this kind of conversation. He wouldn't even have this kind of conversation with Kaido Kaoru, his biggest rival and the person he disagrees with the most.

"I don't see how that's a proper justification." Mumbled the younger boy.

"Wha? I know you have a blunt, sarcastic sort of personality but this is getting ridiculous." Momo felt like he was at a loss for words at the moment.

"Then we should stop this conversation." Ryoma decided.

"You're the one who started it!" Momo was getting exasperated and he wasn't even at school yet. "What sort of childhood did you have that you can't count on friends for simple stuff like going to school together?"

"I was homeschooled when I was young for personal reasons." The boy explained.

"Ah I see now, that's why you're like that." Momo laughed. Ryoma frowned and Momo could clearly tell that the boy behind him was annoyed.

"What's that supposed to mean?" His tone of voice confirmed Momo's feeling.

"Nandemonai~" Momo brushed off the question.

"Momo-sempai!" Ryoma protested against the answer.

"Ahaha, we're here Echizen." He bumped his kouhai off the bike, surprising the boy before he rode away. "Catcha later."

"Momo-sempai!" Ryoma exclaimed, chasing after the junior in the courtyard. "Matte yo!" As Ryoma continued to chase his sempai around, they had unknowingly passed the third year tennis regulars who were walking together in a group. They just watched as their junior kouhai was being chased by a freshman.

"It seems like Momo has made a new friend." Third year tennis tensai, Fuji Syuusuke, smiled as he watched the pair run around the other students.

"Nya, that's the freshman that Momo's been hanging out with a lot recently." Third year acrobatic tennis player, Kikumaru Eiji, sudden remembered.

"You mean the one that hangs out with the freshmen trio from the club?" Power player, Kawamura Takashi wondered.

"Sou sou, that one." Kikumaru nodded, jumping around but stopped abruptly. "But it's not fair, I want a cuddly freshman." He suddenly pouted.

"Hn, but Momo used to practice tennis or eat with us on the roof during lunch. It's weird not seeing him as often anymore." Kawamura continued.

"Well, I'm not sure about him being *ahem* cuddly Eiji, but he must be interesting for Momo to be hanging around him so much. I was starting to wonder where he was during lunch time, ne Tezuka?" The Vice Captain, Oishi Shuichiro, looked towards the tall stoic looking boy.

"As long as he doesn't interfere with practices and Momoshiro remains focused, not goofing off during club times." He, Tezuka Kunimitsu, captain to the Seigaku Tennis Club, simply said.

"Haha, sasuga Tezuka." Fuji looked towards his captain.

"This is good data on Momoshiro's attitude towards things outside of tennis." The data expert, Inui Sadaharu, pushed his glasses up his face and wrote down his observations. The others just sweatdropped at the info that they found trivial. They then walked inside, leaving the boy to his writings.

Just then, Ryoma suddenly stopped running after Momo as he felt a cold wind brush past him. He looked around for a bit and didn't really see anything out of the ordinary, just a tall third year writing in his notebook in the middle of the courtyard while people just continued walking towards the school. But somehow, something just wasn't sitting right with him.

"_Maybe it's nothing." _The boy reassured himself, but still, this unsettling feeling lingered on and wouldn't go away.

**Haaa~ I kinda had a hard time with this chapter  
****Though it may be kinda short in my book  
****I still hope it turned out alright  
****And hope you guys enjoyed it  
****Maa, nothing else to say really  
****So till next time ^^  
****Owari desu~**

updated: 02/05/2013


	3. Chapter 2: First Impressions

**Chiwassu~  
****Yay I'm so excited cause you guys seem to really like this fic  
****And for sure I'll try and make the chapters longer than the first  
****I recently finished the series and am going for a second round  
****Though I should probably read the manga too for differences  
****Maa~ let's just skip ahead to the chapter**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Prince of Tennis…  
****Oh and just a fair warning, I might mix up the order of events a little bit  
****Please bear with me (~- .-)~**

**Saa Let's Start! ^^**

* * *

Chapter 2: First Impressions

Morning classes had gone by with ease for Ryoma. He didn't really have to think much because he was much further ahead in the curriculum when he was getting homeschooled since he was going at his pace instead of the school's. But soon enough, lunch had come and Momo and Ryoma were sitting in the cafeteria again with the freshmen trio. "Momo-chan-sempai hangs out with us a lot, desu ne?" Horio commented looking at the junior.

"What about it Horio? Do you not like it when I'm around?" He questioned the first year.

"N-N-N-N-NO not at all, Momo-chan-sempai!" The boy stuttered in fear that he insulted his senior.

"Hahaha, no need to get serious, I was just joking." Momo laughed while Katsuo and Kachiro tried to calm down their friend.

"H-Hidoi su, Momo-chan-sempai..." Horio sighed in relief and slumped facedown into the table.

(Note: Hidoi su means something along the lines of 'that's cruel' while su is just short for desu)

"Demo, Momo-chan-sempai..." Kachiro looked at the junior. "Wasn't there supposed to be a meeting for the regulars at lunch?" Momo pondered on the thought for a moment before he turned completely white.

"Ah, I'm late!" He yelled out, he then chugged down his drink before scooping up his lunch in his arms.

Ryoma was just sitting quietly, watching the boy as he gathered his things in a rush but there was still something nagging him at the back of his mind. He tried to shake off the thought of something unsettling that may happen but regardless of what he did, the thought will always stay glued in his mind. He then figured that if he were to avoid trouble, he should stay away from those most likely to cause it. Ryoma then grabbed his tray and stood up, grabbing the attention of the other four boys he was sitting with.

"Are you finished already, Ryoma-kun?" Kachiro asked, but Ryoma didn't answer and started to walk away.

"Where you going Echizen?" Horio questioned.

"Maa, I'll see you guys after school if I'm not killed by Baa-san first." Momo waved and then turned towards the emerald haired boy walking away. "I'll catch ya later too Echizen." He called out.

"Please don't." The emerald haired boy answered and dropped his tray off somewhere before disappearing through the cafeteria doors. Momo following quickly after him.

"Ahh~ they're gone." Horio sighed and plopped back down in his seat.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Ryoma was walking up the staircase towards the second floor trying to see if he could find a nice quiet place where he could relax till the end of lunch. As he was walking, he saw that there were a few people standing around in the second floor hallway but since it was warm and sunny out today, most people were outdoors. Ryoma looked through classroom doors to see if there was one open and void of people, though he wasn't having much luck. And with his head turned to the side, he wasn't really paying attention to where he was walking and accidentally bumped into someone.

This someone seemed to be walking pretty fast as the impact caused Ryoma to fall down backwards while the other person took a few steps back. "Itte..." Ryoma rubbed the back of his head and looked upwards to see a junior with a nasty look on his face. The boy also noticed a bandana sticking out of his pocket.

"Fshhh." The junior let out a sound. Ryoma just raised an eyebrow curiously and picked himself up to face his sempai. "Watch where you're going freshman." The taller boy stared down menacingly but the emerald haired boy seemed unfazed. Some students poked their heads out of the classrooms to see what was going on only to shy away a bit at the sight of the junior.

"Gomen, but sempai should really walk more slowly in the hallway. It's dangerous going so fast, you could injure someone." Ryoma retorted. Everyone around flinched at the boy's words. The junior scrunched his face up a bit more and grabbed the freshman's collar, raising him up a bit.

"Are you threatening me? Fsshhhh." The two looked into each other's eyes, neither backing down.

"Why do you make that sound?" The boy answered the question with another question. Ryoma didn't really like being handled this way as it reminded him of a lot of very unpleasant people.

"You mocking me?" The junior did the same as the freshman.

"Can't you answer a simple question, sempai?"

"Why you...!"

"Kaido!" The two boys froze when they heard an older woman's annoyed tone. The pair looks down the hall and sees an old woman with a pink tracksuit on. "You're late for the meeting. What are you doing messing around with a first year?" The junior, now known to Ryoma as Kaido, let go of the younger's uniform and strode over towards her before apologizing. The other boy thought that he was off the hook and turned around to leave when the teacher had also called out to him.

"Oi Ryoma, don't think you're getting off the hook for fighting in the hallway either." She called out to him. The boy flinched and turned back towards her. He was hoping that she wouldn't recognize him but as he thought, it was inevitable. He then followed his sempai's actions and walked towards her as well, standing beside Kaido.

"You know him, sensei?" Kaido asked.

"Well yes, I taught his father how to play tennis when he attended here years ago." Ryuzaki-sensei thought back to the time fondly.

"Ho ho, I thought you didn't play tennis Echizen, yet you're dad knows how!" Momo suddenly appeared from behind Ryuzaki-sensei and poked at the first year.

"Just because my dad plays doesn't mean I do, Momo-sempai." Ryoma did his best to ignore Momo's annoying actions. "So this was where your meeting was. If I knew, I wouldn't have come up here."

"Ouch, that's cold Echizen!" Momo laughed it off. "But who would have thought that you'd meet mamushi up here."

"So he's the mamushi." The boy mumbled to himself. _"I can see how that nickname came to be."_ Ryoma thought to himself.

"Sou sou, but who would've thought that I'd beat mamushi to the meeting?" Now Momo was nudging at Kaido.

"Knock it off baka!" Kaido shoved him back.

"Who you calling baka?! Wanna go?!" Momo yelled back, immediately losing his happy go lucky attitude. Ryoma just thought that it was amazing that there was someone who was actually able to make that annoying personality disappear, not that this side was any less annoying.

"Enough! And you were late too, Momo, so this doesn't excuse you from your punishment for later at practice." Tezuka had come out of the classroom now and decided to bring his players back into the room since the meeting had barely started and lunch was nearing its end. The tennis captain then noticed Ryoma who was just standing around idly, waiting for what his sentence might be. Ryoma took a glance back at the buchou and thought that he seemed really strict and possessed a lot of authority to get these two, who were like dogs and monkeys, to stop fighting with each other.

Tezuka was just examining the boy, wondering where he had seen him before. However, his thoughts were cut short as Kikumaru had bounced out of the classroom, following him, and then immediately made a dive for the first year.

"Uwaa~ you're the first year that's been hanging out with Momo a lot, desu ne?" The redhead asked.

"Eiji-sempai?" Momo just looked at the senior with an amused expression as he was hugging the boy to death.

"I-I can't breathe... s-sempai." Ryoma was trying to tap out of the death hug. He was looking towards Momo for help but the boy was just smiling stupidly at him, obviously payback for all the comments that he'd made earlier. Just then, the vice-captain, Oishi, ran out of the room and gasped at the sight of the first year.

"Eiji, you're strangling him!" Oishi tried to pry the other's arms off the poor boy.

"But Oishi~ he's so cuddly!" Eiji whined.

"Well, it wouldn't matter if he was cuddly if he was dead!" The vice buchou argued. The redhead finally loosened his arms but still leaned on the freshman's shoulders.

"Itai-su." (it hurts) Ryoma just commented simply.

"Hmm... but I have seen you somewhere before, haven't I?" Kikumaru pondered on the thought, resting his chin on Ryoma's head.

"Sempai, will you please let go and leave me alone!" Ryoma was getting annoyed by this kind of treatment first by Momo, then by this senior that he doesn't even know.

"Ahh I remember! You're Ochibi, you yelled at me like that last time!" Kikumaru beamed.

"You met Echizen before, Eiji-sempai?" Momo wondered.

"Hmph, chibi." Kaido said to himself, amused by the name. Ryoma just glared at him.

"Yup, at the pet store. I hugged him there too when I thought that he was so adorable. No wonder I thought Ochibi was cuddly when I saw you with Momo." The third year leaned even more on the smaller boy.

"Yes well, this is all and well but we should get back to the meeting." Ryuzaki-sensei was trying to tell them all to get back into the classroom when a loud yell was heard from inside. Fuji then came out and walked over to Tezuka.

"We may have a little problem inside." He informed though he didn't sound too worried about it, au contraire, he sounded very amused by it.

"Don't tell me..." Tezuka turned towards the room and saw desks flying around.

"BURRRRNIIING! I. AM. GRRRREATTOOOOO!" Kawamura was going nuts inside. "PROTECT THE WINDOW! DORRIIIYYAAAA~"

"What's wrong with him?" Ryoma tilted his head in confusion at the destruction.

"You see, when Taka-san grabs hold of a racket, his personality does a 180 and becomes the major powerhouse tennis player of Seigaku." Momo explained.

"A-Ah." Ryoma sweatdropped at the continuous destruction. Suddenly, Inui popped up behind the three boys (Kikumaru's still hanging out over Ryoma's shoulders), surprising them.

"Ii data." His glasses flashed as he wrote down his observations.

"Shouldn't someone do something?" Ryoma just ignored the three sempai around him and directed the question towards Tezuka, while said boy just looked back towards him.

"We just need to get him to let go of the racket." He finally answered.

"Fuji, how did Taka-san get hold of a racket anyways?" Oishi questioned the tensai.

"You see," Inui appeared in between these two this time to answer. He surprised Oishi but Fuji just remained his ever smiling self. "I was walking to come out here like the rest of you when I accidentally slipped on a racket causing it to go airborne. Kawamura then grabbed onto it so as to prevent it from breaking through the windows." Oishi nodded now fully understanding, then noticed that Kaido was just leaning against the wall idly, not bothered by the situation at all.

"So how do we approach Taka-san when he's like this?" Momo questioned everyone.

"Why not just hit the racket out of his hands? You guys are this school's regular tennis players aren't you?" Ryoma proposed like it was the most obvious choice.

"That's easier said than done Echizen-kun and there's only one person that we know that is able to perform a feat like that." Fuji looked towards the boy as he wondered when the older smiling senior learned his name.

"Then it isn't impossible." The boy argued.

"It's our only option for now since we can't approach him without getting hit by flying desk parts." Tezuka said, crossing his arms and standing tall. The freshman just wondered why that sentence sounded so absurd.

"So who has the best aim then?" Ryuzaki-sensei looked towards the group of boys who then turned towards Inui, whom they knew had all the data on them.

"Momo has the power but if his aiming is off, then there's a 60 percent chance that he will injure Kawamura. Kaido's snake can't perform well in the school's conditions and the probability of hitting an acceptable snake shot here is 8 percent. Oishi and Kikumaru may not be able to pin point the racket as the target is constantly moving and swinging his arm. I am in the same predicament. So this leaves us with Fuji and Tezuka." Everyone then shifted their gazes towards them.

"But Tezuka, you should keep your arm rested and not use it for situations like this." Oishi went into mother hen mode.

"Saa~ it's Fujiko then!" Kikumaru grinned.

"I will try my best but we only have one ball. If I fail, we'll have to think of something else since we wouldn't be able to retrieve the ball." Fuji stated.

"I'm sure you can do it Fuji." Oishi encouraged.

"But he has a point since his playing style is counter tennis and not meant for attacking." Ryuzaki-sensei mentioned. Just then, the lunch bell had rung and all the students started to retreat back into the school.

"We don't have much time left, what do we do?" Momo asked with concern as he looked out the window.

"I was just looking for a place to relax but this happened." Ryoma rubbed his forehead. "If this is gonna take any longer, I'm going to be late for class."

"Oh yes, I forgot you were here Ryoma." Ryuzaki-sensei and the boy looked eye to eye. Ryoma was just hoping that she wouldn't dare do what he thought she was going to make him do. Getting the message from his eyes, she then announced to the rest that the meeting will begin right before their practice after school and that they should head back to class. Kaido was the first to take off but Oishi voiced his concern about Kawamura. She then told them that she'd take care of it and that they should get a move on. They all then left without a word.

Tezuka motioned forward but took one last look at the freshman before he disappeared around the corner, went straight down the hall then turned right towards the staircase to walk up to the third floor. He knew there was something up with this freshman since he was able to make friends with many of the tennis regulars right off the back, but there was also the fact that Ryuzaki knows him and his father fairly well from what he saw. This made him wonder just who was Echizen Ryoma and where had he seen him before? The buchou just kept this thought in his mind to think about later on.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

"Sakuno hurry, we're going to be late for class." Tomoka half ran half walked through the hallway. Sakuno was just jogging behind her, out of breath.

"Matte Tomo-chan." She breathed out as loud as she could so that her friend could hear her. She continued to jog until she bumped her best friend's back, forcing her to stop. "What is it, Tomo-chan?" She asked, questioning where her concern for class had gone. Sakuno then inwardly sighed as she remembered that her next class wasn't with Ryoma.

"It's Ryoma-sama." Tomo whispered as if reading her mind.

"Huh, Ryoma-kun?"

"Yeah and he's holding your baa-chan's tennis racket."

"But why?" Sakuno popped her head around the corner to look too. They could also hear commotion coming from the classroom that they were standing in front of.

"Alright Ryoma, this should be an easy shot for you." Ryuzaki-sensei said as they were finally alone in the hall. She then handed him the ball that she had gotten from Fuji.

Ryoma sighed. "Why couldn't your tennis regulars do something so simple?" He grumbled.

"They all have different playing styles and most of them aren't suited for this kind of situation, as Inui had stated earlier." She explained. "Now come on, you just have to hit the racket out of his hands. Don't tell me you've gotten rusty, have you?" She teased him.

"That's not it!" He frowned.

"Haha, don't make that face. You were the one who said that you didn't want to be late, right?" She continued to tease him.

"Hai." He finally gave in and took his starting stance, bouncing the ball.

"Look Sakuno, he's using his left hand." Tomoka pointed out.

"He is..." Sakuno was just concerned about why Ryoma had said he hated tennis when her baa-chan knew that he could play.

"I'm still not going to join the tennis team after this." Ryoma threw the ball in the air and hit it in a weird way. The ball flew through the air into the classroom, and twisted on a desk that was right beside Kawamura. Then after a few moments, the ball bounced upward and hit the bottom of the racket just as the third year was swinging his arm downwards with the bottom of the handle exposed.

"Huh? Whoa, what happened in here? What about the meeting?" Kawamura looked around, scratching the back of his head. "Ah, Ryuzaki-sensei, where is everyone?"

"Back to class, where you should be headed. And please promise me that you won't grab a racket outside of the tennis courts." The teacher sighed with relief.

"I see, I will try my best." He bowed towards her. He had noticed Ryoma standing there but didn't question his presence but he did question whether he should really leave the classroom as it was.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of this. Just get going before you get in trouble." Ryuzaki-sensei patted the boy on his back. After that, he ran off.

"Can I leave too?" Ryoma handed back the racket.

"Yes, but no matter how many times I see you hit that ball, your twist serve never ceases to amaze me." Ryuzaki-sensei ruffled the boy's hair before sending him off. "Oh and about your punishment for fighting with Kaido in the hall," She stopped the boy momentarily. "you'll have to help the other freshmen clean up the courts after practice."

"Hai." He said in a low, annoyed tone and walked down the hall towards his next class.

"And shouldn't you girls be heading to class as well?" The two girls tensed as they ran down the hall after Ryoma had disappeared.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The final bell had rung and the students were all dismissed for the day. And after all the boys had finished changing for their tennis practice, the regulars had all stayed behind and waited for their coach to start the awaited meeting.

"Is everyone present?" She called out as she walked in.

"Hai sensei." Tezuka responded on behalf of them all.

"Good, so this will be about the upcoming district tournament finals and the intra school ranking tournament. As you all know, that time is coming up once again to defend your position as a regular but since the district finals are coming up fast, I've decided that we will put that on hold for now and will decide the regular positions afterwards. But just because I am pushing back the ranking tournament doesn't mean that you all can slack off. You'll all be playing in the semifinals before the final match happens so for today and the next two days, we'll work on your stamina building alongside your basic training." Ryuzaki-sensei finished her announcement. "Now to explain your regime today, Inui has come up with a way to building up your stamina faster."

"Saa~" Inui stood up and looked at the other seven boys. "today, we'll all be wearing these power ankles and will start off with a 1 kilo weight including your socks. This will help with your footwork as well as your stamina. If you are able to endure this, then without it, it will be much easier to move around." He passed them out and they all tested them out. Next he was going to explain the things that he had set up outside prior to the meeting.

Meanwhile outside, the freshman trio was just hanging around the side of the tennis courts, waiting for their sempai's rallies to finish up. They held a few tennis ball baskets and were starting to get a bit bored until Horio had suddenly started speaking. "Hey did you hear what happened at lunch?" He grabbed the attention of Katsuo and Kachiro.

"What?" They asked the boy who seemed to know a lot about what happened around there.

"I heard that Kawamura-sempai went on a rampage during the meeting at lunch time." He stated.

"No way, what happened?" Katsuo asked, wide eyed.

"I'm not really sure." The brunette scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

"We should've known." Kachiro said, disappointedly.

"Hey, but I do know that he destroy a whole bunch of desks and that none of the regulars knew how Ryuzaki-sensei stopped him." He said with exaggerated motions. At the same time, the two girls from the afternoon had walked by and just so happened to hear the conversation as well.

"Oi, is that really what happened?" Tomoka questioned as she gripped the fence separating them.

"Then I guess that's why Ryoma-kun had hit the tennis ball into that classroom." Sakuno said to herself.

"Haa?! Echizen wouldn't hit a tennis ball. He hates tennis, deshou?" Horio exclaimed taking the girl aback.

"You calling us liars?! We saw Ryoma-sama with Sakuno's obaa-san and she lent him her racket." Tomoka defended.

"No way, so Ryoma-kun knows how to play tennis then?" Kachiro and Katsuo were stunned by that fact.

"Well, we did see him." Sakuno pondered a bit more on what was going on. If Ryoma knew how to play tennis, then why didn't he like to play?

"You know it's not very polite to talk about people who aren't around." A voice interrupted them.

"Guh, Ry-Ryoma-sama." Tomoka sweatdropped as she turned around.

"Ah Echizen, you liar! You said you didn't know how to play tennis." Horio pointed.

"Don't point at Ryoma-sama!" Tomoka slapped the finger that the boy poked through the fence.

"Itteee!" Horio exclaimed.

"I said I didn't like tennis, not that I didn't know how. And just because I know how doesn't mean I have to like the sport." He said matter of factly and sat down on the grass in the shade beside the clubroom.

"Ryoma-kun, I don't mean to sound rude but what are you doing here?" Kachiro asked.

"I got in trouble with Ryuzaki-sensei earlier for fighting with Kaido-sempai and she told me that I have to help clean up the tennis courts today, but since I don't have much to do between now and then, I decided just to wait around here till practice is over." The boy placed his bag down behind him and laid on it with his arms crossed behind his head.

"Y-Y-You fought with Kaido-sempai?" Katsuo and the other two expressed their fear just from hearing the name.

"THE Kaido-sempai?! Are you mad?!" Horio yelled at him again.

"Stop yelling at Ryoma-sama!" Tomoka exclaimed at him again.

"Oh, you're early, aren't you Ryoma?" A voice cut off the argument. The first years all turned around and saw Ryuzaki-sensei standing there with the regulars behind her.

"Obaa-chan." Sakuno greeted.

"Yo Ochibi-chan!" Kikumaru greeted but the boy just ignored him.

"Cold as usual." Momo sighed.

"Enough with the greetings, regulars on the court." Tezuka announced. Then once the regulars entered, everyone stopped what they were doing and bowed towards them in greetings. The regulars then headed over towards courts A and B and found colorful cones with matching tennis balls.

"So this was what you were talking about, Inui?" Oishi took a look at the equipment.

"Yes, this will help you distinguish different types of ball spins." He told them. "So we'll start off with Kikumaru and Momo." The two exchanged glances then put on a challenging look.

"I'm not gonna lose sempai." Momo said towards the redhead.

"Maa~ let's just see if you can keep up, Momo." Kikumaru winked back. Ryoma, still relaxing in the shade, just opened an eye to see what his sempai were up to and just smirked inwardly when he saw their task at hand. He figured that this would be as good a time as any to observe and see for himself just how good these guys really were and if they lived up to their reputations as well.

**YOSHAAA~ Another chapter down \(^0^)/  
****Sorry it took so long (_ _")  
****But I felt a bit stuck on how to get Ryoma to meet face to face with the regulars  
****Hope it turned out alright and that they weren't a bit too OOC if at all XP  
****Also quick question, is the pace alright with you guys?**

**Well that's it for now  
****Hopefully I'll get another chapter up in a week or so  
****Saa Owari Desu~  
****Soshite Arigato Gozaimasu! ^^**

updated: 23/05/2013


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